Customer Reviews

Charlotte Forten's Mission [VHS]

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Frail, sickly and from a free Black family in Philadelphia no one could imagine that Charlotte Forten would risk her life to teach on the Sea Islands of South Carolina prior to Emancipation. Charlotte Forten was no ordinary woman. She defied her family and challenged the white missionairies to send her to help her people as they undergo the process of becoming free.

Melba Moore stars as this brilliant heroine who is determined to make a difference in spite of all the set backs she must endure. Charlotte shares with us her brief time in the islands where she learns how to overcome distrust, how to appreciate the religious faith of the newly freed slaves but most of all how to love with her heart. Charlotte has much more in common with the white missionairies than the former slaves but in time she is able to break through those barriers that impede her mission.

This is a good film depicting the work of abolitionists trying to educate the newly freed slaves. It also shows the unsavory side of northern capitalists who are more interested in the freedmen's labor than they are about distributing land among the disinfranchised. A number of issues are raised in the film as Charlotte tries to make a difference in the lives of the people that she has come to support and love.

Charlotte Forten's Mission is an enjoyable video that gives us insight about an educated middle-class Black woman of the 19th Century coming down south to help her people. The dynamics of racism, politics, sexism and economics gives the viewer an appreciation for what such a person had to face. I highly recommend this video in learning about Charlotte Forten and the work that was done prior to and after the Civil War.